Human Rights Watch Claims Kenya Is Reluctant To Investigate Bodies Dump In Infamous River Yala

By Samuel Ouma Human Rights Watch has indicated in its 2023 report that Kenyan authorities have failed to investigate bodies that were found dumped in River Yala in, Western part of the country. The US-based organization argued that despite the pressure from human rights activists and the general public, the government of Kenya is yet to unravel the people behind the murders purported to be extrajudicial killings. “A Nairobi-based activists’ protection organization said that some of the community leaders who had been at the forefront of bringing the issue to public attention were threatened by people who identified themselves as police,” said the human rights group. River Yala grabbed global news headlines in 2022 after being discovered as a dumping site for dead bodies. HAKI Africa, a human rights organization, disclosed the waterway's horrific discovery. By September 2022, 39 bodies had been retrieved from the river. Some of the bodies were those of people who had gone missing. However, the number jumped to 40 following the discovery of a body of an unknown man on January 5, 2023. A family looking for a relative who allegedly drowned in the river discovered the body. The body, which appeared to be strongly built and of medium height, had severe slashes on the shoulder, and a limb had nearly been severed, according to the local authorities. Some of the bodies were discovered with ropes still wrapped around their necks, and some of their fingers were either missing or severely charred, implying the killers were attempting to conceal their identities.